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OMAHA, NE – An Omaha man has been sentenced to 30-34 years in prison for sexual assault charges that took place at his wife’s daycare.

William A. Harrison has faced his sentence today in court. The
63-year-old man took the chance to publicly apologize to the boy and his family,
even though they weren’t present in court.

But prosecutor Beth Beninato made a point by stating that Harrison had continually abused the boy for four years since the child was 8.

“It happened routinely,” she said. “It happened almost every chance he had. He told the victim not to tell anyone because he was afraid of dying in prison.”

Beninato’s statement referred to the many times that
Harrison, apparently, had begged the young boy not to tell anybody about the
sexual encounters because he didn’t want to die in prison.

The truth came out earlier this year when the boy had an interview with Project Harmony. Then, the child described to the authorities how he had been sexually assaulted by Harrison for years. The boy went on to describe how Harrison performed oral sex on him and forced him to have oral and anal intercourse.

All the assaults took place at Harrison’s home, where his wife operated a children’s daycare. Deb’s Day Care was located near 83rd Street and Bedford Avenue. William Harrison was listed as the secondary caregiver in all department records. The daycare had a license to take care of up to 12 children.

When detectives interviewed Michael Harrison at his home, he didn’t deny the boy’s accusations and admitted to the assaults.

The original charges that Harrison faced were two counts of first-degree sexual assault of a child. However, he was prosecuted today for two counts of attempted first-degree sexual assault of a child. He reached this deal by pleading no contest to the charges.

Harrison initially faced life in prison but was finally sentenced to 30 to 34 years. State sentencing guidelines usually cut jail time in about half, though. For Harrison, this would mean a mandatory period of 15 years of incarceration before being able to qualify for a parole hearing. Nonetheless, he will get a mandatory release after having served 17 years. By that time, he would be 80.

OMAHA, NE – According to Omaha police a Lyft driver made a threat to kill his passenger while he ran after the woman and tried to clutch her.

Detectives say that Joseph Kujath, 34, was charged with a
single count of making terrorist threats. Presently, the accused is being held
at the Douglas County Jail where he’s being detained on $250,000 bail.

“We want to make sure that person, if the allegations are
accurate and true, can’t do anything to anybody else,” Douglas County Attorney Don
Kleine said.

The Omaha Police Department said that during their interview with the 24-year-old woman who called in the attack, they noticed she was “visibly shaken.” Luckily, she reacted quickly by using pepper spray and was able to fend off the enraged driver.

Based on police records, the victim left a Midtown bar at
approximately three in the morning on August 24. She then ordered a ride home
through the Lyft app and was picked up by a black Chrysler 300 driven by the
suspect.

Court records indicate that once they arrived at the woman’s
home, Kujath supposedly got out of his car, followed right behind her and
threatened to kill her.

Law enforcement as well as the prosecutors view the nature of these threats as indicative of a “very dangerous” individual.

Always Be Prepared

The Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine took the opportunity
to urge all ride-share passengers to consider carrying some kind of protection.
He went on to say that since passengers don’t know the person escorting them
around then it’s wise to carry some form of protection.

In this situation, the pepper spray temporarily blinded the
suspect so he couldn’t snatch the woman. Consequently, he got back into his car
and drove away.

Omaha police were able to track Kujath’s car back to his
apartment where they found his eyes red and swollen up.

OMAHA, NE – Omaha Police arrested an 11-year-old boy after he allegedly committed a series of crimes in the North Omaha area. With the implementation of a new law which went into affect on July 1, the child cannot be detained in a juvenile detention facility.

A victim of the crime has referred to the child as ruthless
and claims she doesn’t think the boy at all takes his misdeeds seriously.
However, she also doesn’t want him put into the system. Instead, she’s urging
for him to the help he needs.

The incident happened right off of 30th street at
Martin Avenue. Here the BP gas station is typically very busy. On Thursday,
this was in fact the case. People in cars continually pulled up to the pump. But
this fact became an opening for a crime.

Sierra Porter said, “He was right here! He literally just
pulled on the handle and looked at me.”

Porter then reports that an 11-year-old boy leaped into her
car, with her grandmother, and 2-year-old daughter inside.

Porter recalled, “He tried to put my car in drive. So my
grandma starts pushing him. And when I run up to the car like, ‘What you doin?’
he grabs my phone and tries to run. My first instinct is to trip him. So I trip
him and get my phone back. But it’s broken.”

She then says the kid ran. She also mentions that she was
the 2nd target of his crimes.

“The lady next to me, he tried to take her car, but her daughter
was in the back seat,” Porter said.

Porter immediately called the police and located the boy’s
mother on social media.

Police are frustrated by the incident and feel like they’re
in a no-win situation. In fact, they connected the boy to a burglary at 28th and Ida. Here, the home was upturned and laptops and shoes were taken.

Police charged the boy with three felonies, though due to
his age, he was turned back over to his mother while he waits for his hearing.

OMAHA, NE – Omaha Police arrested a man Tuesday night who they’ve linked to the shooting death of two people in a Northeast Omaha home. Omaha Police reported this earlier in the week.

Authorities booked Nylr Kuek, 20 years old, into the Douglas
County Corrections on two counts of first degree murder. Additionally,
officials charged the suspect with two counts of first-degree murder, two
counts of the use of a weapon to commit felony, and another charge of use of a gun
by a prohibited person.

The victims, Michael Sykora, 57, and Tracy Atkins, 50, were
discovered dead by detectives investigating a call that came in at 12:03 a.m.
Tuesday. It was from a residence in the 6900 block of Northridge Drive.

According to people in the neighborhood, they witnessed
police banging on doors at sometime around 1 a.m. Neighbors say they inquired whether
anybody had seen or heard anything.

Neighbor Christopher Philip said, “Our neighborhood is a
little more subdued and quiet. The worst that we’ll have is an occasional
domestic dispute or we’ll have speeders coming through. That’s really the only
reason you’ll see police in the neighborhood.

Other neighbors allege that police had stopped by the house
multiple times and at all hours of the day and night.

Omaha Police is urging the public to offer any information
or help a they move forward with their investigation. They encourage anybody
who has some relevant info to contact OPD’s homicide unit at 402-444-5656. Any
tips that help identify a suspect will be rewarded with $25,000.

Omaha, NE – Omaha police are on the hunt for two men who broke into a home and stole in excess of $2,000 worth of goods. Unfortunately for the burglars, the entire incident was captured perfectly on camera.

The men illegally entered the home located near 15th and Martha streets. In fact, the homeowner, Adam Hosler, returned to the home and immediately noticed the front door had been damaged.

Hosler said, “The front door knob had been broken off. We
had one of the lock boxes on there. They apparently broke that open and got the
key out of it and apparently used that on the back of the door to get in.”

In the incriminating video, the men rifle through items in
the house then eventually carry Hosler’s belongings to the back. As it turns
out, many of the items taken by the thieves happened to be tools, because the
house is being remodeled.

The video shows one of the men serving as kind of like a cover guy. Moreover, he stood at the back door like a lookout. At least, this was Hosler’s interpretation of what one of the men was doing in the video.

However, the man must not have been the greatest lookout as
he neglected the sign indicating that cameras were inside the home.

According to the police report, the men proceeded to try to
break into several nearby homes. In fact, one of the houses door was kicked in,
but the structure was empty of any items altogether. Still, another home had a
gaping hole in the garage with a lock yanked of, nevertheless, the men took
none of their belongings.

The Omaha Police Department urges anybody who knows the men
to call them right away.

Sheridan County sheriff’s deputy fatally shot a man near the entrance of the Rushville, Nebraska church. The incident happened as the pastor was reading the long Gospel narrative of Christ’s suffering.

Police later identified the man as Clarence Leading Fighter, 32. He was a suspect in a separate assault that occurred less than an hour earlier, the Nebraska state patrol said.

Authorities report that the officer used deadly force to protect him and the parishioners from potential serious harm. There were anywhere from 100 to 150 people attending the Palm Sunday mass at Immaculate Conception Church.

Deputies cleared the church out immediately after the shooting. The mass was ended abruptly. Rev. Joseph K. Joseph said the incident was traumatic for all those in attendance.

The pastor said that as he was reading the gospel, he heard something that sounded as If someone had passes out. His mind then went to the thought of a terrorist attack. He saw commotion near the glass and people who he didn’t initially recognize as law enforcement officers.

Joseph ducked under the alter. Many of the parishioners took cover in the pews or ran outside through side doors.

State Patrol said the victim in the earlier assault involving Leading Fighter suffered a broken arm. That assault occurred at a Rushville home at about 10:20 a.m. The shooting occurred at roughly 11 a.m.

Joseph said confessions for Sunday were also canceled. He hopes the church will be available for Holy Thursday. Catholics are now entering the holiest days of the year.

Joseph said that the head of the Grand Island Diocese was looking into whether the church would have to be reconsecrated after the fatal shooting.

FREMONT, NE – Finally, after dealing with flooded and blocked highways
since Friday, semi-trucks delivered food to Fremont! At least two of the local
grocery stores received the goods – much needed at this point. The pack of semi-trucks,
nine of them in total, made the journey from Omaha to Fremont. They arrived in
Fremont around 7:30 p.m. on Sunday evening.

In fact, the city expected another nine trucks to arrive with loads of food by Monday afternoon. According to a driver for FirstFleet (of Murfreesboro, TN), Brian Helmer, six trucks unloaded on Monday morning at Baker’s. Each truck had about 45,000 pounds of product inside.

These convoys of trucks are part
of an effort to get supplies to Fremont, which is needed at this time. As a
result of flood waters, major highways have been blocked since Friday.

The conditions of the Fremont flood only got worse as the days went by. In fact, the community needed the help of shelters. Five shelters now are helping those who had to evacuate. These shelters are located at First Lutheran, Salem and Trinity Lutheran churches. In addition, they are at Fremont Nazarene Church, as well as Fremont Middle School.

They worked together to get a route
from Omaha into Fremont. The roads are not open for public use at this time, as
they are still too dangerous. To get through the flood and mud, they had to plow
a route there. But now, luckily, the supplies brought relief to the shelters
during these difficult circumstances.

OMAHA, NE – On Monday morning, Omaha broke a new record! The city has reached a record-breaking negative seven degrees. The National Weather Service established that this breaks the old record of minus two in 1965.

The cold is supposed to continue through the week. The temperature will not rise above low 20s. There is also potential for flurries throughout the next couple of days.

As a result of extreme weather, there is a safety hazard. The Nebraska State Patrol closed off the I-80 near Greenwood Monday morning because there was an accident. The one-vehicle incident resulted in a fatality. The highway closed at 8 AM and reopened at around 12 PM. Refreezing along the I-80 caused many problems between Omaha and Lincoln.

During the weekend, seven to ten inches of new snowfall in the Omaha metro area. This causes trouble for some people during their morning commute. In some residential neighborhoods, about 10 inches of snow was recorded.

Interestingly, Omaha reacted strongly to the record-breaking snowfall. Classes were canceled because of the snow. Also, trash pickup was canceled on Monday. Throughout the week, crews have been plowing snow to clear a driving lane.

The weekend storm was a severe one. The blizzard conditions are
unlike any storm Omaha has seen before. Nebraska wasn’t the only state that had
extreme weather, other states were hit with extreme weather as well.

Although conditions are steadily improving, the storm continues
on. Flurries are on the radar for the upcoming week. Care is advised while commuting
and travelling. Hopefully, there are no more record breaking storms in Omaha.

OMAHA, NE – Well, Omaha residents… Omaha winter is not over yet, but school is back in session. Storms, icy roads, and overall bad weather conditions plagued the city the last few days. In fact, mixed precipitation and snow all Tuesday afternoon caused many school cancellations. Omaha Public Schools received a snow day Tuesday, on top of the already-long weekend due to the holiday and the snow day on Friday.

However,
the storms don’t stop the city for too long. As of Wednesday morning, Omaha
Public Schools announced that classes would resume again on January 23rd.
But, the district advised all students to dress warmly and accordingly. The buses
could still face delays because of the icy and snowy roads. And, if a bus is
more than fifteen minutes late, students are encouraged to return to a
sheltered, warm area.

In addition to Omaha, Council Bluffs Community Schools also announced that they are back in session for Wednesday. In a release, they stated that some snowy streets might cause issues. But, parents can always call the transportation line to get information about alternate bus stops.

The winter weather isn’t going anywhere any time soon, either. According to the US Climate Prediction Center, this colder than usual weather will likely continue into February. Despite the still-icy roads, weather forecasters predict that Wednesday is the nicest day this week. Cold winds and dropping temperatures return Thursday in this Omaha winter. It is unclear how much more snow and cold we’ll get in Omaha this year… but it is already more than usual.

OMAHA, NE – The nation is facing an opioid epidemic. Jose Murillo, a man arrested last year as part of a drug organization, gained a sentence of seven years in federal prison. This criminal received charges on account of drug trafficking and money laundering.

Federal authorities reported that Jose “Gordo” Luis Murillo used his house in Omaha as a distribution point for meth. Individuals in Mexico would send Murillo methamphetamine and he sold it. Murillo received the cash from drug sales and he would then wire the money to Mexico.

Murillo wasn’t the only one involved in the drug trafficking
ring. Not only was the convict charged last year, but so were 13 others. The group received pounds of meth at a time
and sent many wire transfers to groups in Mexico. The discovered transfers
reached over $100,000. During the initial arrest, police found over $170,000 in
cash in Murillo’s home.

Murillo was not the leader of this organization. The police have yet to establish the leader. Although Murillo himself assisted in 59 wire transfers totaling well over $65,000 from Nebraska to Mexico. He pleaded guilty to two accounts. These charges were a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and a conspiracy to launder money. His sentence, decided on December 21, is 87 months in federal prison.

Consequently, the court sentenced four members of the trafficking organization to jail time. Meanwhile, the other nine cases in the trial are pending.

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